Adjustable window shutter



A1 .-M...KlinnnALl.

ADJUSTABLE WINDow--SHUTTERvv Aug. 19, 1952v Filed Feb. 26, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 l ATTORNEY M. KENDALLA 2,607,451

ADJUSTABLE WINDOW SHUTTER Aug. 15.), 1952 Filed Feb. 26, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug.719, 1 952 j L. M. KENDALL v l 2,607,451

A ADJUSTABLE WINDOWl SHUTTEB Filed Feb. 26,1947

C nl m D /4 .A 5,41

ATTORNEYS Y Patented Aug. 19, 1952 ADJUSTABLE WINDOW sHU'r'rER.

' Leon M. Kendall, Manchester, MaineQassignor to Kenlane Manufacturing Company Inc., a

corporation of Maine Application February, 1947, Serial No. 730,911

7 Claims.

lapping portion for securing the blinds to the house and providing transverse stiffness to the blind.

The new-adjustable blinds are of simple and inexpensive construction and can be simply and readily applied to the house; and the vadjustable nature of the blinds permits them to be usedfor windows of different heights.

The new blinds can be painted or enameled in different colors and in contrasting colors to match different standard colors of paint used in painting the houses or to Agive a contrasting and pleasingv effect. f

'I'he blinds are made of two thin sheet metal sections, each with a Wide central panel and with narrow side panels united together through short sections. at right-angles thereto and with inturned edges at right angles to the edge sections, so that the two sections have longitudinal stiffness and when applied to the house will have much the appearance of a wooden blind or shutter withawide central panel and narrow edge panels. The two sections are of generally the same shape except that the upper section is of a size such that it will-overlap the lower section to a greater or less extent.

The transverse reinforcing members, which may be of wood ormetal, are shaped to conform with the cross-section of the sheet metal sections. They can be separatelyprovided and applied at the time the blinds are applied to the house or advantageously secured permanently to the sheet metal sections at the time they are made. Three transverse reinforcing elements are providedand are located at-the top, bottom and overlapping portions of the blind. When separately applied,` these 'are `inserted when the blinds areapplied to the house, as `by nails or screwspassing through the thin sheet metal and the reinforcing elements for'securing the blinds to the house. :L

The reinforcingA elements are advantageously applied to the sheet metall sections when they' are 2 manufactured. In this case two'of the transverse reinforcing elements are applied at the ends of the lower section and one at the top of the upper section, leaving the lower end of the upper section unobstructed so that it can slide over and overlap the lower section to the desired extent to give a lblind of the proper height for the window. l

When the transverse reinforcing elements are made of wood they are cut and shaped to conform to the cross-section of the sheet metal and with the sheet metal secured thereto by nails or screws, advantageously applied at thev edges and at the narrow sections 'between the central and side panels. When the reinforcing elements are made of metal, such as sheet metal, they'are similarly shaped totconform to the cross-section of the thin sheet metal sections and may be secured thereto by welding, riveting, etc.

For decorative purposes the adjustableblinds may also be provided with an outer removable panel or plate of sheet metal extending across the width of the central panel and having means for securing it inplace so that different plates .with different. decorative designs thereon can be used and replaced ask desired.

The adjustable sheet metal blinds ofithe presentinvention are so constructed that the two sections are nested together Afor shipping withone section overlapping the other for the greater part of the length. WhenV the transverse reinforcing members are applied when the blinds are made, the sections can be nested or overlapped for practically the entire length except for the transverse reinforced portion at the end.

When the adjustable blinds are to .be secured to the house at the sides of the windows the lower section will be rst applied and secured to the house and the upper section will then be overlapped to an extent which gives the proper height of the blind and it .will then be lsecured t0 the house, the lower part of the upper and outer section being securedat the Asame place at which the upper endof the lower sectionV is secured. The result is to-give a sheet'metal blind having much the appearance of a wooden blind with a central raised panel section of greater thickness than the side panels and with theinturned edges of the sheet metal sections `forming the sides of the blinds.

The invention will be further described in connection with the 'accompanying drawings illustratingrcertain embodiments thereof, kbut it is intended and will be understood vthatth'e'invefntion is-illustrated thereby'but is net lin'iited thereto.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l shows a section of a house with two of the new adjustable blinds secured thereto at the sides of a window;

Fig. 2 is a front view of one of the blinds;

Fig. 3 is a top'view of the blind of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on the line 4-4 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section taken on .the line 5--5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a view of the back of the blind and illustrating the adjustment of the sections, one.

position of the upper section being shown in continuous lines and another location in broken lines;

Fig. '7 shows asheet metal plate which after bending will form a cap or cover for the top of the upper section, or a reinforcing element for the end of the section;

Fig. 8 shows the cap or cover formed by bendingthe sheet of Fig. '7; i

Fig. 9 shows an alternative form of reinforcing member for the ends of the sections, this being made of a sheet of metal such as shown inFig. 7

AFigli) is a section taken onthe lineIU-I of Fig. 2 showing the added decorative element and one means of securing it in place; and

Fig. l1 shows in four transverse end views, A, B, C and D, different steps in bending a sheet of thin sheet metal to form the sections of' the blinds therefrom.

In the structures shown in the drawings, vthe adjustable blinds are made up of two sections, thev upper section I overlapping the lower section 2 toa 'greater or lesser extent, the overlapping portion being indicated vat 3." Each section Ais made Vup of a wide central panel .4 and side panels 5 Vjoined together through sections 6 at right angles thereto and .with inturnededges'i forming the sides of the blinds.

The formation .of these vthin sheet metalsections is illustrated conventionally in"Fig..1l where A showsonev end'ofa piece of sheetlmetal before bending, B shows the edges turned in to give the reinforcedand strengthened edges, C shows these edges turned downto form'the sides of the blind, and -D shows the thinsheet metal when bent 'to nal shape' to form the wide central'panel 4 and the side panels 5 united together through' the shortlsections at right angles thereto. vThe vsheets of thin metal can thus be readily bent to form the reinforced edges, and shaped into the' form of the nished blind sections, by ordinary metal working machinery used for bending and shaping the thinvsheet metal.

It will be seen that the reinforced edges -1 and At the top of the upperpanel, and at both ends y of the lower paneL-are transverse reinforcing elements 3 of a shape'conforming tothe crosssection ofthe bent sheet metal. As shown in Figs.v l to 6, these sections Q Vare of wood, cut or formed to the shape shown and with the sheet metal secured thereto by nails or screws l!) as illustrated'inFigs; 3 anldfl.- The back edges of 1 thesereinforcing elements are even with `the back 'edges ofthe'fsheet metal. 'Ihe 4front portions of these elements are advantageously curved somewhat, as indicated at 8 in Figs. 3 and 4, so that when the elements are applied to the sheet metal and secured thereto the central panel l will be similarly curved and held in close contact with the curved portion of the reinforcing member.

The two sections thus made can be painted or 'enameledand are thenready =for shipment. The top section can overlap the lower section its entire length except for the reinforced portion at its end. And a number of blinds so constructed Yand nested together can be readily packaged and shipped.

When the vblinds are to be applied, for example, as illustrated in Fig. l, to a house Il alongsideV a window I2 the lower section 2 is applied and secured to the house, as by nails or screws I3 passing through the thin sheet metal and through the lower reinforcing member. The uppersection can then be applied with a sufficient overlap to give a blind of the required height of the window and similarly secured in place through nails or screws I3 applied through the thin sheet metal and the upper reinforcing element. v Both sections are Vthen secured'to the building at an intermediate point by nails or screws passed .through the overlappingsections and through the reinforcing elementat the top of the lower. section.

Forv decorative purposes'the blinds are advantageously provided with removable sections I4, as shown in Figs. 1, Zand l0, formed of thin sheet vmetal having various decorative'p'atterns thereon, one of which is illustrated in Fig'. 1v, and which may be painted the same color as the central panel of the blinds or incontrasting colors. These removable sections have a length somewhat greater than the width of the middle panel of the blindfand have provision at their ends for securing these sectionsin place, as by openings I'I in the intermediate sections 6 vor bolts' or othersecuring means. Inthe structure shown in Fig. l0 the thin sheet metal section I4-has end sections I5 and inturned projections I6 extending into openings i1 in section 6.A Such removable sections can be vreadily inserted and removed and a series ofsections can be provided with different decorative designs'thereon to permit selection of the desired design for use in any particular case.

When-the transverse reinforcing elements are made of woodv they may be provided with lan outer protective cap I8 of sheet metal, one such cap being shown in Fig. 8 as applied to the top of the upper section of the blind to protect the wood from exposure to the elements'. A 'similar cap or cover can be applied 'at the botom of the lower section of the blind.

A cap or cover I8 at the endsof the blinds, such as shown in Fig. 8, can be made fromk a lsingle sheet of metal I 9' cut and pressed as shown in Fig. 7 and bent along the broken lines shown in Fig. 7 to form the cap or cover shown in Fig. 8. Thus the intermediate section 26 ofthe sheet metal plate of Fig. 7 will Vforni the top 20 of the cap for cover of Fig. 8,the end projections 2|V of Fig. 7 will form the end portions 2I of Fig. 8, the backportionZZ of Fig. '7 will form the baci: of` thgcap or closure, theifront portion `23 of Fig. '7 will y'forni'the central frontportion ofthe cap overlapping the `top off the middle panel l section srZli of Fig. 8'overlapping the side panels. lhe intermediate portions 5, in this construct1on,do'n0t.have any'portion of the cap extending down over ,themf OpeningsZG' may be made in thev removable capsv to facilitate Securing them in place by bolts or screws passing through the reinforced end portionsv of the blinds."

Instead ofmaking the transverse reinforcing elements of wood, they may be madeA of metal. Fig. 9 shows such a reinforcing member I 8 made from a single sheet of metal such as: shown in Fig. 7 and formed into a reinforcing element'simi lar to that of Fig. 8, but intended in this case to bev located on thefback of the'thin sheet metal sections and secured theretoby welding or otherwise. Openings Z'Imayfbe provided'inv therein'- forced ends of the blinds,'asfshown inFig.'9, to facilitate securing the sections to tliehouse.

When the blinds are made by forming the bent sheet metal sections and `after 'the' transverse reinforcing elements are secured thereto the sections can be painted or coated with enamel of any desired color or of contrasting colors. For example, the middle panels 4 may be painted white, and the rest of the sections black; or both the middle panel and thev other portions of the blind may be painted a single color such as green or brown, etc. or with different shades of the same color or with contrasting colors. The added decorative panels I4 may similarly be provided with a design in a color which will harmonize with or contrast with the paint on the blind itself.

The blinds can be provided in standard colors or in standard contrasting colors to harmonize with or to contrast with the usual paint colors used in painting houses, thus giving the customer a selection to meet his particular needs.

'Ihe new adjustable blinds have the same advantages as solid wooden blinds in that they can be readily applied to the house Aalongside the Windows by the use of nails or screws. They have the advantage of woodenV blinds in that they do not crack or become distorted in shape as is likely to occur with wooden blinds made of improperly seasoned wood.v And they have the advantage of being adjustable to windows of different heights instead of requiring different blinds for windows of different heights.

It will be understood that the blinds may be made of varying widths and that the sections may be made of varying lengths.

It will also be understood that variations and modifications can be made in the specific form and shape of the sheet metal sections and of the transverse reinforcing elements; and that the specic structures above shown illustrate the invention, but that the invention is not limited thereto.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the invention provides adjustable window blinds made of two overlapping sections which can be readily removed from and applied to eachv other and made to overlap to a greater or lesser extent for convenience of shipment and to permit the use of the blinds for windows of different heights. It will also be seen that the blinds, although made of thin flexible sheet metal, will be given longitudinal rigidity by the shape of the sheet metal and will be given transverse rigidity by the transverse reinforcing elements.

The panel structures disclosed herein are claimed generically in my application Serial No. 19,694, filed April 8, 1948 for Panel and Panel Structures. The panel structures are also disclosed in my application Serial No. 19,693, led April 8, 1948, now Patent 2,602,199, for Assembled Awning Structures? thecla'i'ms ofv which are drawn to awnings.

Iclaim:

1. A decorative-adjustable sheet metal blind to be securedto a house alongside a window thereof, said blind comprising twov sections of thin sheet metal adapted to overlap each other in the length-'- wise direction toa greater yor lesser extent so as to correspond to the height of a window of a house, each of said sections being made of a single sheet of metal bent to form awide central longitudinal panel at the front of the section, separate side panels respectively on opposite sides of the central panels intermediate portions at approximatelyright angles to said panels and lextending respectively forward to the front central panel, and edge sections at right angles to the side panels and extending toward the back of the section, and transverse reinforcing members each having a shape conforming to the cross-section of the sheet metal sections for securing the sheet metal sections at the ends and at overlapping portions of thev adjustable sections to the house alongside a window thereof.

2. A decorative adjustable sheet metal blind to be secured to a house alongside a window thereof, said blind comprising an upper and lower section of thin sheet metal of similar crosssection, the upper section being adapted to overlap the lower section to a greater or lesser extent so as to correspond to the height of a Window of a house, each of said sections being made of a single sheet of metal bent to form longitudinal edge sections at right angles to the main section and extending toward the back of the section, two transverse reinforcing members having a shape conforming to the crosssection of the lower sheet metal section and secured to the ends thereof, a similar transverse reinforcing member having a shape conforming to the cross-section of the upper sheet metal section and secured to the upper end thereof, whereby the blind can be secured to a house alongside a window thereof in overlapping relationship by securing devices passing through the top of the upper section and the top reinforcing element, the bottom of the lower section and the lower reinforcing element and through the overlapping sections andthe reinforcing element at the top of the lower section.

3. A decorative adjustable sheet metal blind to be secured to a house alongside a window thereof, said blind comprising two sections of thin sheet metal adapted to overlap each other in a lengthwise direction to a greater or lesser extent so as to correspond to the height of a window of a house, each of said sections being made of a single sheet of metal bent to form a wide central longitudinal front panel, separate side panels respectively on opposite sides of the central panel, intermediate portions at approximately right angles to said panels and extending back from the central panel to the respective side panels, and longitudinal edge sections respectively at right angles to the side panels and extending back therefrom, transverse reinforcing members of wood having a shape conforming to the cross-section of the sheet metal sections and secured to the top and bottom of one section and to one end of the overlapping section, whereby the two adjustable sections can be adjusted to different heights for different windows and secured to the house alongside a window thereof in overlapping relationship by fastening elements passing through the sheet -metalsections. andthe wooden transverse reinforcingelementsf 4. A decorative adjustable sheet metal'blind to be secured toa house alongside a window thereof, said blind comprising two sections of thin sheet metal adapted to overlap each other in the lengthwise direction to a greater or lesser extent so asto correspond tothe height of a windowof a house, each of saidv sections being made of a single sheetl of metal `bent tojforrn a wide central longtudinal` front panel, separate side panels respectively on opposite sides of the central panel, intermediate portions at approximatelyV right angles to said panels and extendingrback from' the central panel to the respective side` panels, and longitudinal edge sectionsrespectively at right angles to theside panels and extending back therefrom, transverse reinforcn ing members of sheet metal having a shape conforming to the cross-section of the sheet metal sections and secured'to the ltop and bottom of one section and to one end of the-overlapping section, whereby the two adjustable sections can be adjusted to different heights for different Windows and secured to the house alongside a 5. An adjustable blind such as defined in claim 1 having Wooden transverse reinforcing elements and having a thin sheet metal cap of a shape conforming to the cross-section of the sheet metal sections for covering the top of the blind.

6. An adjustable sheet metal blind as defined in claim l characterizedin that thecentral 1ongitudinal front panel of each section is symmetrically curved outwardly between the intermediate portions of the section. Y

7. A decorative adjustable sheet metal blind to be secured to a house alongside a window thereof, said blind comprising upper and lower sections of similar cross-section with the upper section overlapping the lower section, each of said sections comprising a facing of thin sheet metal 1and being of similar contour so that vthe lower portion of the upper section overlaps the 8 upper portioncf .the lower sec-tion Ain,a metal to'metal contactf each V of thefacings of-said sections being `made` of. a single sheet offmetal bent to form a Wide central longitudinal front panel, separate side panels respectively on opposite sides ofthe central panel and offset rearwardly vtherefrom by intermediate portions at approximately right angles to said side panels andextendingback from the central panel -to the respective side panels, and longitudinal edge sections respectively atright. angles to said side panels andextending back therefrom, two transverse reinforcing members v,having a shape con- :formingl to the Vcross-sectionof the lower sheet metal section Vand secured lrespectively to the ends thereof, and a similar transverse reinforcing member having a lshape `conforming to the cross-section of the upper sheet metal section and secured. to the upper end thereof, said transverse reinforcingmembers extending generally at right angles to the face of` the sections and each having a straight backV edge coincident with the respective back :edges of the edge sections of the sheet metal sections to which the reinforcing members are secured, saidsections being open a the back. l y

. LEON M. KENDAIL.-

REFERENCES" (irrenV The following references are ofrecord'in the le'of this patent:

UNITED sTATEs PATENTS De Ragon Aug. 23, 1949 

